Have you ever wondered where all the equipment comes from when making a movie or commercial? We often see many trucks, vans, trailers, and buses roll into an area, film, and then pick up and leave. But where does it all go? And how do they know what they need? When it comes to the lighting department in the film industry, many production companies will rent grip trucks that are full of lighting equipment for the technicians. These are some of the most common types of equipment that can be found on a grip truck.
Grip technicians use many different clamps when they are creating lighting setups in film. For this reason, you will see dozens of clamps in various sizes and widths in a grip truck. Pipe clamps, furniture clamps, beam clamps, and many more clamps are readily available in many different styles to ensure that they can do any set up.
There are also multiple frames available in grip trucks, which allow technicians to bring materials in and out of the truck much easier. These also help move bulky or heavy items around set quickly so that you can get the shot you need. Frames look like dollies, and they allow for transport of other equipment.
One of the biggest jobs of grip lighting experts on set is to set up the lighting elements for each scene. This requires the use of rigging equipment to get the best angles, achieve the right height, and even create motion. Rigging equipment is essential to their job, so grip trucks will be full of many types of equipment that make this job much easier to accomplish. Items like pulleys, runners, ropes, carabiners, and safety cables allow this to happen.
For more stationary lighting, grip technicians will need to have wall plates in various sizes. These wall plates help lights stay in one place for a longer period of time, which is helpful when filming in the right lighting or when trying to capture multiple shots with the same emotion or mood.
Boom arms help to elevate the lighting equipment right over the scene that is being shot. These can also be used for microphones or cameras as well. These sturdy arms provide many different angles for the lights, and they also keep the lights sturdy at their dangling angles to avoid damaging any equipment.
These are just some of the most common types of equipment and tools that can be found in most grip trucks. When you are a grip technician working in the film industry, the production company will typically rent the grip truck that provides everything needed for that film. Contact Tiki Grip Electric to hear more about our grip truck packages today.